Farm News: 11-06-10

Farm
• Another Red Poll calf was born this week. The chicks have been moved to growers’ wood and the cattle are rotating pastures.
• It seems our climate is more extreme these days. In the past few years, there have been alternating droughts and floods. Did you know that statistically we get more rain in the summer than in the winter?
• We have been battling red mite in a few chicken sheds this week – the solution is diatomaceous earth. This consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard shelled algae. The chickens are dusted with this, and it’s put in the sheds to act as a mechanical insecticide. Harmless to people and chickens, the abrasive fossil cuts the insect cuticle, thereby killing them.
• Please leave gates as you find them. We spent a stressful 4 hours chasing cattle around the farm on Wednesday because someone had left one of the gates open! Store and Veg & Meat Boxes
• Church Farm mange tout and strawberries are selling well in the store.
• The butcher is now able to take meat orders and answer any questions on the preparation or cooking of different cuts of meat.

Store and Veg & Meat Boxes
• Church Farm mange tout and strawberries are selling well in the store.
• The butcher is now able to take meat orders and answer any questions on the preparation or cooking of different cuts of meat.

Café
• Try out our new home-made ice cream flavours: apricot and almond, banana, blackberry and kiwi.
• All of the flowers in our salads are edible!
• Tip: To stop asparagus going limp, cut half a centimetre off the base and place in cold water in the fridge.

Events, Workshops and Courses
• Our Campfire, Music and Sleep Under the Stars Weekend went down a storm! Why don’t you book into one of our other weekends in July or September?
• A big thanks to volunteers from DuPont who came to help us transplant 4,000 leeks last Friday!
• Did you make it to Open Farm Sunday???